He said it: A sampling of Jerry Kill quotes from Signing Day

With 19 new players in the fold, Gophers coach Jerry Kill sounded optimistic Wednesday, while acknowledging that every coach is giddy on signing day. Here's a sampling of Kill's comments:

On signing only one scholarship player (linebacker Chris Wipson) from Minnesota: "There's a couple that got away that I'd have liked to have. And we got after it; just didn't get it done. I'm responsible for that, and I've got to do a better job, but overall I think we've hung in there pretty good [recruiting Minnesotans] over the last two years."

On Wipson: "Chris Wipson is exactly what we want as a football player. He comes out of a great program [Wayzata]. ... He's smart and intelligent. He came off knee surgery, but he's been doing well. I think he can run our defense and those kinds of things. So I think it's a great situation for us and a great situation for him."

On this recruiting class ranking last in the Big Ten: "We were able to compete with some people we couldn't get in the front door with [in previous years], so I can't respond to that. ... We feel good about how we're doing it. We're doing it first class. We're doing it the right way, and I think we're getting people that fit into what we do."

On Ryan Santoso, a 6-5, 260-pound kicker from Pace, Fla.: "I don't want to ever have to see a dang kickoff returned again. I want him to kick it out of the end zone, period, and he's got the leg to do that. And I also want him to be able to punt the football. I think he has the capabilities of doing that."

On whether 6-9 Nate Wozniak will stick at tight end: "He has a tight end's body. He's not skinny or frail; he's ripped. I mean the kid's 6-9 and benches over 300 pounds right now. He comes from a great program [in Indiana], so he's got a head start on some things. And he can be a mismatch problem with somebody as he learns."